diff --git a/org.springframework.integration/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/handler/MessageHandlerChain.java b/org.springframework.integration/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/handler/MessageHandlerChain.java
deleted file mode 100644
index d6460a2d92..0000000000
--- a/org.springframework.integration/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/handler/MessageHandlerChain.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,73 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Copyright 2002-2008 the original author or authors.
- *
- * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
- * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
- * You may obtain a copy of the License at
- *
- *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- *
- * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
- * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
- * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
- * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
- * limitations under the License.
- */
-
-package org.springframework.integration.handler;
-
-import java.util.Collections;
-import java.util.List;
-import java.util.concurrent.CopyOnWriteArrayList;
-
-import org.springframework.integration.message.Message;
-
-/**
- * A message handler implementation that passes incoming messages through a
- * chain of handlers. The chain will be broken by any handler throwing an
- * exception or returning <em>null</em>.
- * 
- * @author Mark Fisher
- */
-public class MessageHandlerChain implements MessageHandler {
-
-	private final List<MessageHandler> handlers = new CopyOnWriteArrayList<MessageHandler>();
-
-
-	/**
-	 * Add a handler to the end of the chain.
-	 */
-	public void add(MessageHandler handler) {
-		this.handlers.add(handler);
-	}
-
-	/**
-	 * Add a handler to the chain at the specified index.
-	 */
-	public void add(int index, MessageHandler handler) {
-		this.handlers.add(index, handler);
-	}
-
-	public void setHandlers(List<MessageHandler> handlers) {
-		this.handlers.clear();
-		this.handlers.addAll(handlers);
-	}
-
-	/**
-	 * Get an immutable list of handlers
-	 */
-	public List<MessageHandler> getHandlers() {
-		return Collections.unmodifiableList(handlers);
-	}
-
-	public final Message<?> handle(Message<?> message) {
-		for (MessageHandler next : handlers) {
-			message = next.handle(message);
-			if (message == null) {
-				return null;
-			}
-		}
-		return message;
-	}
-
-}
diff --git a/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/handler/MessageFilterTests.java b/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/handler/MessageFilterTests.java
index 32fc6ed470..030af6cb0d 100644
--- a/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/handler/MessageFilterTests.java
+++ b/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/handler/MessageFilterTests.java
@@ -16,16 +16,11 @@
 
 package org.springframework.integration.handler;
 
-import static org.junit.Assert.assertFalse;
-import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
-
-import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertNull;
 
 import org.junit.Test;
 
-import org.springframework.integration.handler.MessageFilter;
-import org.springframework.integration.handler.MessageHandler;
-import org.springframework.integration.handler.MessageHandlerChain;
 import org.springframework.integration.message.Message;
 import org.springframework.integration.message.StringMessage;
 import org.springframework.integration.message.selector.MessageSelector;
@@ -37,42 +32,23 @@ public class MessageFilterTests {
 
 	@Test
 	public void testFilterAcceptsMessage() {
-		final AtomicBoolean secondHandlerReceived = new AtomicBoolean();
-		MessageHandlerChain chain = new MessageHandlerChain();
 		MessageFilter filter = new MessageFilter(new MessageSelector() {
 			public boolean accept(Message<?> message) {
 				return true;
 			}
 		});
-		chain.add(filter);
-		chain.add(new MessageHandler() {
-			public Message<?> handle(Message<?> message) {
-				secondHandlerReceived.set(true);
-				return null;
-			}
-		});
-		chain.handle(new StringMessage("test"));
-		assertTrue(secondHandlerReceived.get());
+		Message<?> message = new StringMessage("test");
+		assertEquals(message, filter.handle(message));
 	}
 
 	@Test
 	public void testFilterRejectsMessage() {
-		final AtomicBoolean secondHandlerReceived = new AtomicBoolean();
-		MessageHandlerChain chain = new MessageHandlerChain();
 		MessageFilter filter = new MessageFilter(new MessageSelector() {
 			public boolean accept(Message<?> message) {
 				return false;
 			}
 		});
-		chain.add(filter);
-		chain.add(new MessageHandler() {
-			public Message<?> handle(Message<?> message) {
-				secondHandlerReceived.set(true);
-				return null;
-			}
-		});
-		chain.handle(new StringMessage("test"));
-		assertFalse(secondHandlerReceived.get());
+		assertNull(filter.handle(new StringMessage("test")));
 	}
 
 }
diff --git a/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/handler/MessageHandlerChainTests.java b/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/handler/MessageHandlerChainTests.java
deleted file mode 100644
index 50b5cb2e54..0000000000
--- a/org.springframework.integration/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/handler/MessageHandlerChainTests.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,56 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Copyright 2002-2008 the original author or authors.
- *
- * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
- * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
- * You may obtain a copy of the License at
- *
- *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- *
- * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
- * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
- * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
- * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
- * limitations under the License.
- */
-
-package org.springframework.integration.handler;
-
-import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
-
-import org.junit.Test;
-
-import org.springframework.integration.message.Message;
-import org.springframework.integration.message.StringMessage;
-
-/**
- * @author Mark Fisher
- */
-public class MessageHandlerChainTests {
-
-	@Test
-	public void testChain() {
-		MessageHandlerChain chain = new MessageHandlerChain();
-		chain.add(new TestHandler("a"));
-		chain.add(new TestHandler("b"));
-		chain.add(new TestHandler("c"));
-		chain.add(new TestHandler("d"));
-		Message<?> result = chain.handle(new StringMessage("!"));
-		assertEquals("!abcd", result.getPayload());
-	}
-
-
-	private static class TestHandler implements MessageHandler {
-
-		private String text;
-
-		TestHandler(String text) {
-			this.text = text;
-		}
-
-		public Message<?> handle(Message<?> message) {
-			return new StringMessage(message.getPayload() + text);
-		}
-	}
-
-}